Story by Robert McKendree, (master’s student)
The Food and Nutrition Science Institute is part of a joint food science curriculum project involving Kansas State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Nebraska Career Education. The institute brings agriculture, food and consumer science, and science teachers from Kansas and Nebraska together for a week-long training on how to deliver project-based curriculum materials in the classroom.
After the institute, participating teachers will pilot curriculum materials and provide feedback throughout the year. The curriculum focuses on food science, food safety and nutrition. Written in a project-based format, semester-long courses are divided into major units, or projects, that focus on one major problem that students try to solve.
The institute is funded by the five-year long Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) Coordinated Agricultural Project grant, provided by the USDA, which seeks to reduce the occurrence and impact of STEC causing bacteria in the food supply. The curriculum and institutes serve as part of the education and outreach component of the grant project.
This year’s FNS Institute is in Manhattan, Kansas, from July 13 to 17 and will include more than 40 teachers from Kansas and Nebraska. The 2015 institute spaces have already been filled. Those interested in the 2016 institute should contact Robert McKendree at rmckendree@ksu.edu.
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